Dakota Smith

Staff Writer

Recent articles

Minimum wage

Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday used the factory floor of a North Hollywood manufacturing plant to push for a federal minimum wage hike and rail against income inequality. Addressing a crowd of politicians and workers at Bobrick Washroom Equipment, Biden said the country’s current $7.25 minimum wage forces a worker to live on $14,000 annually, but a $12 wage would boost earnings to $24,000.The vice president also cited the earnings gap between CEOs and workers as...

Local governments

A city-owned parking lot in Koreatown is at the center of an unusual deal proposed between Los Angeles City Hall and a local nonprofit.The Korean American Museum Inc. plans to rent a lot on Vermont Avenue from the city for $1 a year and build a two-story museum on the site. Nonprofits frequently rent city space at a significant discount. But in a twist, Korean American Museum Inc. also plans to build a $20 million market-rate apartment complex on the parking lot and use revenue...

Entertainment industry

Film, television and commercial production in the Los Angeles region fell 1.9 percent in the second quarter of 2015 compared with a year earlier, according to Film LA, a nonprofit group that tracks productions.A drop in reality television shoots led the overall production decline, said Paul Audley, president of Film LA. He said it’s unclear why reality filming, which fell 13.7 percent, declined.Film production...

Political corruption

The U.S. government says it still doesn’t know who leaked a confidential affidavit in the case of former state Sen. Ronald Calderon.Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Miller stated in court filings submitted this week that the government’s probe into who slipped the affidavit to news outlet Al Jazeera America was closed, with investigators finding “no evidence of the identity of the leaker.”The...

Trials

Three employees of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department were convicted Wednesday of viciously beating a visitor at a county jail and falsifying reports to cover up the crime.After deliberating for less than four hours, a federal jury convicted former Deputies Fernando Luviano and Sussie Ayala and former Sgt. Eric Gonzalez of violating the civil rights of Gabriel Carrillo, who was taken into a private room and attacked in 2011.The charges followed an FBI...

Local governments

Nine months after Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti used the backdrop of a park in struggling South Los Angeles to unveil his plan to raise the city’s minimum wage, he returned Saturday to the neighborhood to sign the proposal into law.Amid cheers and shouts of “Si se puede,” Garcetti told the crowd of union members and immigration rights advocates gathered at Martin Luther King, Jr. Park the law would lift a million Angelenos out of poverty and bridge the...

Wages and salaries

Los Angeles lawmakers voted Tuesday to hike the citywide minimum wage to $15 by 2020, passing a sweeping plan designed to address poverty even as questions lingered about potential layoffs and store closures.On a 14-1 vote, the Los Angeles City Council voted to raise the current minimum wage from $9 to $15 over the next five years.Councilman Mitchell Englander sided with several business groups in opposing the plan, citing Los Angeles’ “competitive...

Indictments

When Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca stepped down more than a year ago, his role and possible indictment in the ongoing federal investigation at the county jails was still in question.Critics lambasted the head of the nation’s largest sheriff’s department, saying he ignored or denied his deputies’ abuse of inmates.Supporters praised his oversight, saying he’d launched education programs for inmates and helped bring down crime rates.Baca...

Recreational cycling

Wheels up, cyclists.Bike Week, a nationwide event to get more people biking, kicks off Sunday with planned events such as “bike blessings,” nighttime rides and discounts at museums. Whether the event draw first-time bikers or longtime cyclists, the goal is to help riders have a sense of community, said Aaron Paley, executive director of Ciclavia, a biking and pedestrian organization.

Lawsuits

Wells Fargo Bank employees opened unauthorized accounts and credit cards for customers in Los Angeles in a bid to up their sales quotas, according to a civil lawsuit filed by City Attorney Mike Feuer’s office.Filed Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the lawsuit claims Wells Fargo engaged in “unlawful activity including opening fee-generating customer accounts and adding unwanted secondary accounts to primary accounts without permission,” according to...